Message from the Academic Director

Liberal, not in contrast to Conservative but, as Free, in contrast with imprisoned, subjugated, or incarcerated.Liberal Education refers to a curriculum that is designed to provide students with the knowledge and abilities to become free-thinking, productive members of society.

Welcome to Liberal Arts and to Liberal Education.

Here begins your experience of a form of education that has existed since ancient times and which continues to evolve and adapt to the intellectual and professional milieu in which it is delivered. Liberal Arts today does not refer to the Arts, or to the Humanities. Rather, it is a way of approaching the major questions that preoccupy us by considering them from the perspectives of science, social science and the humanities.

You are probably familiar with the late Steve Jobs's famous statement that:

“Technology alone is not enough. It’s technology married with the liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our hearts sing.” (March 2, 2011).

On this degree you'll be encouraged to think in original ways, beyond disciplinary boundaries, and to develop your ability for self-awareness and self-governance. Your challenge is to engage with technology and consider its scientific applications, but also its social, historical and political impacts. Your challenge is to question long-standing practices in the fields of Economics, Politics, Behavioural sciences, Social sciences and the Humanities, to propose alternative models of thinking.

You will join a community of ambitious, focused and forward-looking students who are keen to chart their own path through education and who, like you, share the qualities of open-mindedness, alertness and maturity. Success on this degree requires discipline and hard work. It is fuelled by passion and nurtured by personal investment.

I am proud to lead a team of academics and administrators who are passionate about Liberal Education and dedicated to ensuring that we provide you with a supportive and intellectually stimulating departmental culture and a curriculum that is unique in its depth, and the breadth and flexibility it affords. We are committed to ensuring the success of each of our students and to supporting them in developing their intellectual and professional interests.